Cachapas Venezuelan Corn Pancakes With Cheese Food

CACHAPAS (VENEZUELAN CORN PANCAKES)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
• Add the crema, half of the corn, eggs, sugar and salt to a blender and blend until the mixture is evenly combined but still chunky. Add the arepa flour and the remaining corn, then blend until a thick, even batter forms with pieces of corn still visible. Let the batter sit a couple of minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a large nonstick skillet or a griddle over medium heat until warm and spray generously with cooking spray. Add two 1/4-cup scoops of the batter, spacing them apart, to form 2 pancakes. Smooth each out with the back of your measuring cup to form a 5-inch-wide pancake, making sure the center is thin and flat -- the center takes longer to cook and if mounded will make the pancake much harder to flip. Cook until the bottoms are dark brown, almost black, about 5 minutes. While the pancakes cook, shred or slice your cheese, if necessary.
• Flip the pancakes and top one of them with a quarter of the cheese. Cook until the cheese melts, about 3 minutes, then top the cheese with the second pancake. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.
• Make more cachapas with the remaining batter and cheese, wiping out the previous oil and spraying the skillet or griddle generously with cooking spray for each batch. Once all of the cachapas are filled with cheese, top each with a half tablespoon of butter and serve with crema on the side, for dipping.

CACHAPAS (VENEZUELAN CORN PANCAKES)

Steps:

• Add fresh corn, egg, milk, corn flour, sugar, and salt in a blender and blend until a thick paste form. Let stand for about 10 minutes for the mixture to thicken. (If your mixture is still too thin, add a little more masa harina or flour to thicken it to a spoon-able consistency.)
• Preheat a 5-1/2 inch frying pan, over medium heat.
• When the pan is hot, add some butter to grease it.
• Pour 1/3 cup of batter into the frying pan, making a circle around the pan.
• Cook for 4-5 minutes and flip with a spatula. Cook for 3 more minutes until the cachapa is golden brown.
• Place sliced mozzarella on one half of the cachapa and let it melt. Fold the other half over the cheese and spread some butter on top. These are best if served hot, straight from the skillet.

CACHAPAS (VENEZUELAN CORN PANCAKES WITH CHEESE)

Steps:

• Whisk together sweet corn mix, water, milk, fresh corn kernels, and salt. Heat a small sauté pan over medium heat and add 1/3 of the butter (1/2 tablespoon). Once melted, add 1/3 of corn batter and spread out slightly with spoon. Let cook untouched over medium heat for 3 minutes. Flip over. Sprinkle 1/3 of shredded cheese over top of cachapa (do not fold over yet). Cook for 3 more minutes (cheese side up). Then, sprinkle with crumbled cheese, fold in half, and remove from pan. Repeat two more times.

VENEZUELAN CORN CAKES: CACHAPAS

Steps:

• Remove kernels form husk of corn using a sharp knife. Puree in a blender. Mix in the sugar, milk, and salt. Heat griddle to medium heat, lightly coat with canola oil. Spoon mixture onto hot griddle to form "pancakes" of your desired size. Cook for 2 minutes on each side. Garnish with sour cream.

FRESH CORN PANCAKES TOPPED WITH CHEESE: CACHAPAS

Steps:

• Scrape corn kernels from the cobs; run the back of your knife along the cob to extract all the corn liquid. Put corn into a food processor and pulse a few times to break up the kernels. Add masa harina and salt and pulse to incorporate. Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium low heat. Divide the mixture into 4 and make 4 corn cakes. Cover and let the cakes cook for 5 minutes. Uncover the pan and carefully flip the cachapas over. Press on them with a spatula to flatten them a bit. Cook, covered, for another 5 minutes. Uncover and cook for about 5 more minutes; they should be a dark golden brown. Top with the cheese and cover until the cheese has melted. Serve immediately.

VENEZUELAN CORN PANCAKES (CACHAPAS)

Steps:

• With a knife, remove the corn kernels from the cobs. Put the corn kernels and the other ingredients in the food processor and process. You must get a pancake-like consistency, not too thick.
• Preheat your griddle or a non-stick fry pan to medium high heat and lightly grease it with oil spray. Measure about half cup of the mixture and spread it with a round spoon over the pan until you get a circle of about 4 to 5 inches of diameter.
• When the surface starts to bubble, turn it over with a spatula and cook it on the other side. Each side takes about 2 minutes, depending on the thickness.
• Fill them with fresh cheese,in Venezuela, we fill them with "queso de mano" which is a white fresh cheese, delicious, but you could use for example a low fat soft white cheese or anything you want like nonfat slices of turkey or ham. Or even non-sugar jam Or no-fat cream cheese, ricotta, -- anything you want.

CORN PANCAKES WITH CHEESE OR CACHAPAS DE CARABOBO

Steps:

• Puree corn & press through sieve to yield about 3 cups.
• To the corn add cream, egg, flour, sugar & salt, & mix well before letting batter rest 15 minutes.
• Onto hot griddle or cast iron skillet, pour 1 tablespoon oil, then pour 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.
• Fry, turning once until lightly browned & firm on both sides.
• Remove from griddle & serve wrapped around a slice of cheese.